Israelische politie en leger arresteren kinderen in het midden van de nacht en mishandelen ze

Amir (10) uit Hebron, van zijn bed gelicht in het midden van de nacht (foto Nora Barrows-Friedman, Electronic Intifada.

Electronic Intifada brengt het verhaal van de 10-jarige Amir die met zijn broertje werd opgepakt bij het gooien van stenen . Zijn broertje van 12 werd  negen dagen vastgehouden en - ondanks het feit dat zijn ouders de borgtocht van 2000 shekel niet konden betalen - toch maar vrijgelaten door een militaire rechter (Amira Hass schreef hierover in Haaretz). Amir zelf werd urenlang vastgehouden, mocht niet naar de wc (zodat hij in zijn broek plaste) en mocht pas laat in de nacht gaan. Electonic Intifada interviewde hem (hier) . Enkele uren later werd hij 's nachts van zijn bed gelicht.  

Toevallig brengt Ha'aretz bijna op dezelfde dag het volgende nieuws, waaruit blijkt dat ook in Silwan kinderen van 12, 14, 15 jaar in het midden van de nacht uit hun bedden worden gehaald en vaak mishandeld:

Several children in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan were arrested and taken from their homes in handcuffs in the middle of the night over the past few months, as part of a police crackdown on suspected stone-throwers, several teenage residents told B'Tselem and Haaretz.  (...)

"They told me to get down on my knees and slapped and kicked me, one from behind and one from the front," a 15-year-old told B'Tselem.(..)

"The interrogator kept asking me the same question for an hour and every time I denied it, he swore. He swore at my mother and sister. He slapped me and wouldn't let me go to the toilet or have a drink of water," a 14-year-old told B'Tselem.

Parents who try to argue or block their children's arrest are treated harshly or attacked, said Jaballah Rajabi, many of whose family members have been arrested. "I tried to talk to them and they hit me, sprayed me with gas. Fifty of them come for every child. This isn't police, it's a mafia," he said. "These incidents constitute a most severe breach of minors' human rights," attorney Yael Stein of B'Tselem wrote to Jerusalem District Commander Aharon Franco. "A military-like crackdown in the middle of the night to interrogate 12- to 14-year-old children on suspicions of throwing stones runs contrary to all reason, and cannot be justified. It's hard to imagine the security forces taking such measures against Jewish minors," she wrote, accusing police of breaking the law governing treatment of youth. The Jerusalem Police denied using violent measures and said the arrests and interrogations were carried out lawfully. "Following increasing incidents of stone-throwing at cars, Border Police and Jewish houses in the Silwan area, causing damage to people and property, Arab minors suspected of throwing stones were arrested," a police spokesman said. "Some of the minors had their remands extended by the court, and others were released on certain conditions. All the suspects against whom we have evidence will be brought to trial," he said.